This invention relates generally to apparatus for transferring articles from one location to another and, more particularly, to apparatus for transferring articles from a first conveyor, on which the articles are traveling generally horizontally in line one after another in a first direction, on to a second conveyor extending generally at right angles to the first conveyor, the apparatus being operable in cycles to transfer on each cycle a group of articles from the first to the second conveyor with the articles in the group extending in a row transversely of the second conveyor.
This invention has a particular (albeit not exclusive) application to the glass container industry where apparatus referred to as a "stacker" is used to transfer molded glass containers traveling in line one after another on a first conveyor (sometimes referred to as the "cross conveyor") on to a second conveyor (sometimes referred to as the "lehr conveyor") for conveyance of the containers to a lehr or oven. This transfer takes place shortly after the molding step and while the glass containers are still very hot and thus easily damaged, so that any contact between containers, either as they are moved off the cross conveyor or after they are placed on the lehr conveyor, may damage the containers and render them unusable. It is important, therefore, that the containers be transferred in such a way that contact between the containers is avoided altogether or at least minimized. Prior stacker mechanisms have not accomplished this objective. Moreover, the movement of such prior mechanisms has been controlled by mechanical components such as cams. As a result, adjustment of the mechanism to accommodate variations in container size, conveyor speed, etc. has been time-consuming and caused excessive amounts of downtime of the entire container forming line. Other prior stackers have involved the use of hydraulic motors and have been limited in their range of motion, making adjustment to handle different situations difficult.
Reference may be made to U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,528,018, 4,339,028, 4,081,073 and 3,960,266 for transfer mechanisms generally in the field of this invention.